The US will provide $45m (R744.5m) in assistance to Cambodia and Thailand, the senior US diplomat for East Asia said on Friday during a visit to the region, to help solidify President Donald Trump‘s peace-making efforts between the two countries.
“The US will continue to support the Cambodian and Thai governments as they implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and pave the way for a return to peace, prosperity and stability for their people and the region,” Michael DeSombre, the US assistant secretary for East Asia, said in a statement.
A senior US state department official said DeSombre would meet senior Thai and Cambodian officials in Bangkok and Phnom Penh on Friday and Saturday to discuss implementation of the peace accords “and broader efforts to promote our shared interests in a safer, stronger and more prosperous Indo-Pacific”.
DeSombre said the USs, which has slashed its global foreign assistance programs under Trump, would provide $15m (R248.1m) for border stabilisation to help communities recover and to support people displaced by the recent conflict, and $10m (R165.4m) for demining and clearing of unexploded ordnance.
The U.S. would also provide $20m for initiatives that will help Cambodia and Thailand combat scam operations and drug trafficking,and other programmes, DeSombre said.
The Trump administration has made combating the scam centres based in Southeast Asia a priority as US citizens have been targeted by their financial fraud operations.
Border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand flared up again last month after the collapse of a previous ceasefire deal brokered in July by Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to end a previous round of conflict.
The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed on another ceasefire at the end of last year, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on the two sides. The more recent clashes included fighter jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages.
Thailand is a long-time US ally, while the US has sought to improve relations with Cambodia to try to woo it away from strategic rival China.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.